The E1 Gavilán ('Sparrowhawk' in English) is an unmanned electrical-surveillance airplane designed and manufactured by the Mexican firm Hydra Technologies. The aircraft is a remotely controlled unmanned aerial vehicle.[1]
The Gavilán was unveiled on June 10 2008, at the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI) North America 2008 event in San Diego, California. The airplane was also displayed at the Farnborough Airshow on July 14 2008.
The Gavilán is a multipurpose reusable unmanned aerial system for surveillance. It's faster and requires less space compared to the S4 Ehécatl.
The plane's main feature is that it does not rely on a runway for takeoff, making it easier to maneuver on uneven terrain by the help of manual control.
The aircraft has a 90-minutes flight autonomy, and is controlled by a single user by means of a portable Ground Control Station(GCS).
The system was developed by the Mexican Federal Government, Nafinsa and academic or scientific institutions such as CONACYT, Instituto Politécnico Nacional, Universidad Autónoma de Guadalajara and ITESO.
Interchangeable module equipped with mission sensor and flight camera